Myst Journey

Ages and places of Myst

Explore and learn more about the environments of Myst:

Myst Age


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The main island has a dock, a library with a rotating tower behind it, a planetarium, a forest, and various other strange-looking features. There is also a little sister island with a clock tower on it.

This remained the home of Catherine, Atrus and his grandmother Ti'ana for many years, as described in The Book of Atrus. In realMyst, you can find a gravestone of Ti'ana in the forest part of the island.

It has been revealed by Cyan employees that the Myst island as seen in the game(s) is actually just a small part of the real island: in the game, only those hiding places for the surviving Linking books were shown. The island as seen in the game does not show the other book's hiding places, nor Atrus' family living quarters. These were undergrounds, accessed by the tower elevator (In the game, the elevator can only go upwards).

Stoneship Age


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The Age derives its name from a ship which Atrus attempted to write into the Age using "The Art." He intended to use it for explorations, but for reasons unknown, the ship became "gripped" by the rocks and broken in two. Despite the immobility of the vessel, the boys and Atrus liked it because it was large, had cabins underwater, and was stable. This ship also led to the caves that later became the bedrooms of Sirrus and Achenar, Atrus's two sons.

Stoneship was an Age still existent after the burning of Atrus's books on Myst Island. The part the player visits was described by Atrus as "The Rocks," for that was what they were, a series of several sheer rocks rising out of the water, with two main caves to seek shelter. Atrus retold the story of how they came to be inhabited. First there was a boy named Emmit, who had always lived there since he knew. Second, there was Branch. And third, there was Will. Others came after Atrus and the boys built a lighthouse with an electric generator. The stone foundation on which the lighthouse was built has sunk slowly over the years, causing much of the lighthouse to be flooded underwater.

This Age, like the rest of the Ages of Myst, is now uninhabited; its people are assumed to have been killed.

Mechanical Age


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Mechanical was considered one of the later Ages visited by Atrus from Myst Island. Upon his arrival, Atrus met an old man who reminded him of Emmit, who told the chaotic history of the island. The people rejoiced at the salvation, and Atrus departed feeling satisfaction. However Sirrus and Achenar returned, to do much more than everyone had expected.

Many years ago, a large island existed where they were. This island had a large city, with many peaceful people. They had built a sentry-post on the east coast, expecting visitors to come. They had no means of transporation, meaning they could only wait for friend or foe.

Both came in the end. Friendly visitors warned of a fleet of Black Ships which attacked and destroyed all they came upon. Such was the fate of the island city which was ruined after an attempt at peace in the sentry. All were killed save eight, and two had died since then, before Atrus arrived. The once large island experienced rising water levels after the attack, leading to the creation of three small islands, the south being the largest. Atrus was informed of the return of the Black Ships, and decided to help the people. He brought his sons Sirrus and Achenar to help, which they did. They succeeded in building a rotating fortress which successfully defeated the Black Ships, probably for good.

This Age, like the other Myst Ages, is sunken and bears evidence of the murder of the six people living there.

Channelwood Age


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Channelwood was one of the earlier Ages linked to by Atrus. In its present state it exists as a forest of trees rising out of the water with wooden pathways between them, as well as as a staircase to the treehouses that once were home to the monkey-people. There are also several elevators powered by a windmill supposedly built by Atrus's sons, Sirrus and Achenar.

When Atrus arrived, it was a somewhat sunken island inhabited by monkey-like people and one human, descended from another lot that had become extinct on the island long ago.

Selenitic Age


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One of the Ages linked to from Myst Island, Selenitic could be viewed as rather bizarre, yet intriguing. It was uninhabited to begin with, but nevertheless, scarred and barren, conveys a somewhat unwelcoming feeling.

Atrus wrote that the once grassy island was devoid of any large animals or humans. It was once a cool, soft place, with a large lake but a cataclysmic event of tectonic turbulence and a rain of fireballs from the sky forced Atrus to leave; only to return to a hardly recognisable world. It became a barren, hot, desert wasteland, with a large chasm opening into the ground. The most notable of things in this Age were the sounds as well as Atrus's underground tunnel navigator, which he used to explore.

The name of the Age is believed to refer to the lunar-like atmosphere of the island (cf. selene) but most likely refers to the huge crystals found in this age ("Selenitic" means "Of or pertaining to selenite", where selenite is a type of colorless, clear crystal).

D'ni


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The room is in K'veer, located in the main cavern of D'ni.

In the original Myst, D'ni was spelled "Dunny". It was changed to "D'ni" and is spelled correctly in realMyst.

Rime Age


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realMyst

An addition to realMyst, this Age, also referred to as Snow Age, was hidden on Myst Island.

There is not much history around this island. There is a strange lightning device activated by the tower built by Atrus, and it is considered as an atmosphere experiment. There is also an imager which shows images from other Ages without allowing an option to link to them.

The imager puzzle allows one to show an image from Riven.

Rime plays an important role in Myst IV: Revelation. The modified version of the crystal-imager device is located in Atrus' labratory in Tomahna. It is also the place where Atrus spends most of the game, since he is stranded there in a storm.

References